Always Friends
by Galadriadhar
Summary: After everything that had happened, he still wanted to be friends. And that was strange.


Snow was drifting slowly to the ground, coating the sidewalks of Monstropolis in a layer of white. The roads were covered with slush from rush hour traffic. Only a few monsters were out and about, leaving tracks in the snow on the sidewalks. The great clock tower in the center of Monstropolis ticked away and, a few moments later, clanged six times. Red, blue, and other colored lights covered the city. Christmas was coming.

One of the monsters who was out and about was short and green. The monster's legs were covered with old, worn legwarmers emblazoned with a faint yellow logo. What it was, no one could say. The monster's head was covered in a green hat and scarf, and these also bore the faint yellow logo.

"Hey, Mike," another monster said as he passed the green monster. "How are you?"

Mike, the green monster, shrugged. "Can't complain, Ricky. Stay safe, you hear?"

"Of course!" the other monster exclaimed. Mike chuckled and continued walking.

Finally, after another ten minutes of walking, Mike's destination loomed over him. He took a moment to check the sign on the gate, just to make sure he was in the right place. Unfortunately, he had been to two other places before getting here. The sign said: _Greenbaker Maximum Security Prison – CDA Division_.

At the gate, a guard in heavy armor checked Mike's driver's license before waving him through. Mike shivered as he passed through the gate and headed to the door of the prison. It was a cheerless place, cold and dark. There were no extraneous lights, no signs of Christmas. It was a hulking mass of granite.

All these thoughts ran through Mike's head before he opened the door to the prison. Inside, it was worse. A row of guards sat behind monsterproof glass, and more guards patrolled in front of the visitation area. There was a sense of hopelessness in the air.

"Who are you here to see?" one of the guards behind the glass asked. "Unless you're admitting yourself."

Mike scanned the prisoners' register on the desk. "Prisoner A119."

The guard clicked his tongue. "Guy's pretty popular today. Already had one visitor about… ten minutes ago. Thank goodness visiting hours are extended, right?" Fumbling around behind the desk, the guard produced a clipboard and handed it to Mike. "Fill this out and sign on the dotted line. Give it back once you're done, and we'll see what we can do."

Mike carried the clipboard to the visitation area, where some other monsters were waiting for their turn to see someone. He sat in a rigid, uncomfortable chair and began filling out the form.

"Mister Wazowski? What a pleasant surprise," a dry female voice said from behind him. Mike jumped to his feet and spun around, feeling somewhat panicky. The voice had come from a tall female monster with a centipede lower half. She wore an upper suit that almost looked like part of her exoskeleton.

"Dean Hardscrabble? What are you doing here?" Mike asked. He stopped to take some deep breaths. Dean Hardscrabble chuckled.

"Evidently, the same reason you are here." Dean Hardscrabble put her hands behind her back and examined the prison. "It is rather grim, is it not? Not a wreath or garland to be seen, and in a place that needs such cheer more than anywhere else."

Mike nodded slowly. "Who did you come to visit, ma'am? That is, if you don't mind me asking."

Dean Hardscrabble looked around the prison once more. "One of my old students, Mister Wazowski. I believe you know to whom I refer, so I shall not elaborate further."

"All right…" Mike trailed off. He looked over the form and filed in a few missing parts. Dean Hardscrabble watched him out of the corner of her eye.

"Mister Wazowski, again and again you have surprised me."

"What?"

"You continue to surprise me, Mister Wazowski. You manage to get back to our world by scaring human adults in their world. You manage to discover an energy source superior to scream energy. And you manage to come here to this maximum security prison to visit one that wronged you."

Mike shrugged self-consciously. "It's Christmas, Dean Hardscrabble. I can't just let him…" He gesticulated wildly, trying to find the right words. "I can't just let him rot," Mike finished.

Dean Hardscrabble nodded. "I agree. I may have chosen a different set of words, but the sentiment is the same. But I must head back to the university."

"Paperwork?" Mike asked.

A small smile graced Dean Hardscrabble's solemn face. "Indeed. It seems that you know something about paperwork as well." She extended a hand, and Mike took it. They shook and separated. "Well, Mister Wazowski, I shall wish you a merry Christmas. And, as always, keep surprising people."

As Dean Hardscrabble exited the prison, Mike went back to the receiving desk and handed the clipboard to the guard. The guard looked it over and nodded. "All right, looks good. Let me see when you can get in…" The guard spun to a schedule and picked up his walkie-talkie. "This is Jonson… Yes, another for Prisoner A119… Now? The schedule says he's due for dinner and after-dinner exercise… Oh, he wants to put that off? Right, I'll send the visitor back." Jonson clicked the walkie-talkie off and turned back to Mike. "You're lucky. Go on over to that door and follow the signs. Good luck."

Mike thanked Jonson and went through the door. He took a left, then a right, and then another right. After one more left, a room appeared in front of him. A hulking guard grunted when he saw Mike. "You must be the visitor. Go on in. Prisoner A119 is waiting." The guard moved aside and let Mike pass into the room.

The room was split in two by a mesh wire wall. On the side opposite Mike was another guard and an empty chair. On Mike's side was a matching chair, which he sat in and waited.

"You're my visitor? If I'd known that, I would have declined," a harsh voice said from the empty chair.

Mike was silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. Once he had them all together, he looked a little above the empty chair. "Hey, Randall."

The empty chair blurred and suddenly a scaly, purple and blue monster was sitting in the chair. His head was exactly where Mike had been looking, so the monster's squinting eyes met Mike's one eye right away.

"What do you want, Wazowski?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing," Mike said quietly. "I heard that you made it back."

Randall snarled. "No thanks to you, Wazowski! Do you know what I had to go through? Some humans thought I was an alligator, and once I managed to slip away, it took four months to find a kid's room that some monster visited regularly."

"I don't know if I could have done that," Mike admitted.

"I doubt it," Randall growled. "That green beach ball body would have gotten caught in a snap. Now go away. I don't want to see you!"

"I'm sorry, Randall."

Randall glared at Mike. "Do you _think_ I give a flying lick whether or not you're sorry?! You're the reason I'm here in the first place! You and that lug of fur got me here! You ruined me in the Scare Games, and you ruined me in my plans to revolutionize the energy industry! I don't even know why I'm talking to you, Wazowski!" Randall got off of his chair and motioned to the guard on his half. "I'm done, Markowitz."

"Randy, please wait."

It wasn't quite clear why Randall stopped. Maybe he was curious. Maybe he felt some tug at his heart. Maybe it was the fact that Mike used his nickname. But Randall did stop walking away.

"I never meant for us to grow apart. I never meant for Sulley to humiliate you in the Games." Mike bit his lip. "I've always been jealous of you. I mean, you have built-in camouflage, for crying out loud! There was no way that you'd fail the final exam that first semester. I envied that."

Randall turned slightly toward where Mike sat. His expression was unreadable.

"But I never wanted _you_ to fail," Mike continued.

"Then why didn't you support me?" Randall asked. His voice wasn't quite as harsh.

"I did," Mike replied. "But… I lost sight of my priorities. But, no matter what happened, I was cheering you on. Even when you helped Johnny pull that prank on Oozma Kappa, I was hoping that you were happy. Because we were friends."

Randall grasped the chair on his side to steady himself. "We were friends. _Were_ is the key word, though."

Mike sighed. "Maybe… I've hoped that we could be friends again, though. I miss that. Sure, Sulley's a great friend, but I miss having you as a friend."

"No dice, Wazowski. We can't be friends."

"Wait… Randall, you said we can't be friends. Why can't we?"

"Don't you see?!" Randall exclaimed, turning on Mike. "It's in the past! And I hold grudges for a very long time!" He shook his head. "You ruined me. I can't just put that away and say that everything's dandy."

Mike shrugged. "Maybe not, Randall. Maybe not. But it's not impossible to take a few steps."

Randall turned away. "I can't do that, Wazowski. Too many years of hate and anger left me stony."

"Then let me give you this," Mike said. He lifted a flap in the mesh wall and pushed a package through the flap. He lowered the flap and fastened it.

"What is it?" Randall asked. He had turned back to the mesh wall and picked up the package. Slowly he opened the package.

Inside was a photograph of Mike and Randall outside the MU School of Scaring. Mike was holding up two fingers in a victory sign while Randall was holding up two papers. Each of the papers had 'A+' written in red ink at the top. Underneath the photograph was a wrapped cake, with 'Be My Pal' written in blue icing.

"We had just passed the final test before Professor Knight's final exam…" Randall murmured. "All thanks to you…" Then he caught sight of the cake. "The cupcakes…" Randall chuckled. His chuckles were choked. "We laughed about them falling on me after that night. How did you remember all of this? Where did you get the photo?"

"I've always remembered. We were friends. I wasn't going to get rid of those memories."

Randall chewed his lip. "Really?"

"Really."

"I guess…" Randall paused, then nodded. "I guess I believe you. Can-"

"You don't need to ask for my forgiveness, Randy," Mike said, cutting him off. "I forgave you long ago. That's what friends do, after all."

The guard on Mike's side of the wall tapped him on the shoulder. "Time to go. Visiting hours are over."

Mike nodded. "I have to go, Randy. Take care." He stood and turned to leave.

"Hey…" Mike paused at Randall's voice. "Come back sometime?"

"Of course, Randy."

"Thanks… Mike. And merry Christmas."

Mike glanced toward Randall and saw him being escorted away by the guard on the other side of the wall. "Merry Christmas, Randy."

The door closed behind Randall and the guard. The guard on Mike's side walked with him to the receiving room of the prison. After Mike came out into the visitation area, he headed straight to the receiving desk.

A guard noticed him and turned to face him. "What can I do ya for?"

"How much is the bail for Randy?"

A/N: A different fandom than I usually work in… But I love this. Merry Christmas, everyone! And I don't own Monsters Inc. or Monsters University.


End file.
